ONCE upon a time a survey was carried out which found bedtime stories are still thriving despite the rise of technology.

Research carried out by parenting website Mumsnet found nine out of 10 parents regularly read to their children before lights out, a higher figure than the 67 per cent of mums and dads who were themselves read bedtime stories as children.

In 45 per cent of households reading duties are split between partners, with mums doing the most reading in 42 per cent of cases and dads being the main reader of bedtime stories in just 10 per cent of families.

Favourite stories in the survey were The Gruffalo for under-fives, Roald Dahl’s Matilda for five to eight-year-olds and the Narnia adventure of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for eight to 11-year-olds.

Rather than distractions from gadgets killing off the practice of parents reading to their children, technology appears to be helping. More than one in 10 parents are turning to interactive devices such as iPads or Kindles to read stories.

On a negative note, nearly half of parents admitted to finding reading a bedtime story a chore.

Meanwhile, 44 per cent of parents said they felt guilty about sometimes not reading a bedtime story, with four per cent admitting to having lied to friends about reading them.

Do you read stories to your children and were you read to at bedtime when you were young?

What do you think is the best bedtime story and which children’s books do you remember most fondly?

Do you think it’s important every parent reads to their children on a regular basis?

Add your comments below.